1965  – The All-Time Greats Show Up, A Game Is Played & History Is On Display

Today – Only Ex-Yankees, A Few Notable Players Attending, A Lot Of “Who’s He?” & No Old-Timers’ Game, With A Scofflaw Sponsor

Will The Yankees PLEASE Stop Holding “Old-Timers’ Day”

The Yankees Old-Timers’ game on Saturday, July 31, 1965 honored All-Time Award Winners.

The players were names that every person knew. Either by seeing them play or having their fathers or grandfathers talk about them. The ballplayers attending represented what made Old-Timers’ Day a special day.

The master of ceremonies, Yankees broadcaster and former Cardinals catcher Joe Garagiola began announcing the players over the public address system. A dizzying assortment of former superstars names echoed within the vast Yankee Stadium: Bob Feller, Pee Wee Reese, Luke Appling, Roy Campanella, Dizzy Dean, Joe Cronin, Frankie Frisch; Early Wynn, Bill Terry, Charlie Gehringer, Joe Medwick, Lefty Grove, Al Rosen, Stan Musial, Monte Irvin, Hal Newhouser. Bicky Walters, Bobby Doerr, Larry Doby, Jimmie Foxx – all future or previously enshrined Hall of Famers.

Then a cadre of other well known former Yankee opponents: Joe Black, Dusty Rhodes, Dolph Camilli,  Jim Hegan, Hal Trosky, Tommy Holmes, John Antonelli, Bob Elliott, Jim Konstanty, Vern Stephens and Bobby Avila.

If it seems like there were a lot of former Cleveland Indians it is because the Yankees were playing the Indians that day in the non-Old Timers’ Game game.

Then the former Yankees were introduced. Spud Chandler, Jerry Coleman, Bob Grim, John Mize, Billy Martin, Charlie “King Kong” Keller, Bob Turley, Phil Rizzuto, Enos Slaughter, Bobby Shantz, Joe Page Gil McDougald, Yogi Berra, Bill Dickey and of course Joe DiMaggio.

As you may notice the non-Yankees players outnumbered the Yankees players by more than two to one.

Why?

Because the Yankees were more concerned about bringing back great players that all fans would recognize and then engage in a spirited and fun exhibition game. The format of the game would be just like the All-Star Game – American League versus National League. As you see we’ve reproduced the program and it is pretty straightforward. The program’s sponsor was Ballantine beer, a New York and New Jersey staple of bars and taverns.

The Ceremonies & The Game

The day started at 12:30 with famed New Year’s Eve stalwarts Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians entertaining the fans. At 1:15 the Commissioner of Baseball Ford Frick and American League President Joe Cronin were introduced. After the players introductions, the Old-Timers game began at 2:05.

The NL old timers ended up beating the AL by a score of 4-2 in a two inning game. But the highlight for the 41,230 fans in attendance was 50-year-old Joe DiMaggio’s line drive solo home run into the lower left field stands off of Bucky Walters in the second inning. It will be noted that DiMaggio’s first two swings resulted in pop-fouls. The first foul ball catcher Jim Hegan caught and purposely dropped so DiMaggio could swing again. Then, third baseman Monte Irvin made a circus catch behind his back, but umpire Al Schact decided to let DiMaggio keep batting and then hit the home run.

Fast Forward 59 Years & The Glory Days Are Gone

The Yankees will hold their Old Timers’ Day August 24, 2024.

The theme? The 15th anniversary of the 2009 team (that’s last Yankees team to win the World Series) and 18 former players from that team will show up. Among them Eric Hinske, Jerry Hairston Jr. and Damaso Marte.

By the way, the longest stretch the Yankees went without winning a World Series between 1923 and 1962 was three years.

Again, as for the past few years there will be no Old Timers’ Game. Why? No real reason has been provided. The introductions of players will occur but as usual they will all be former Yankees. The players will do on-field interviews with Joe Girardi and Suzyn Waldman. How exciting. Much better than an Old Timers’ game.

Some  of the players attending this year will be legitimate stars such as Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada, Paul O’Neill, Willie Randolph, Lou Piniella, Roy White and Andy Pettitte.

Most of the old Yankee greats are dead now. DiMaggio, Mantle, Maris, Berra, Ford, Rizzuto, Henrich, Howard, Stottlemyre, Lopat, Turley, Reynolds, Raschi. So are many of the greats from every team. The Yankees could have invited non-Yankee greats but have not, because, Old Timers’ Day has become a Yankeefest.

But wouldn’t it have been nice to see and honor at the stadium: Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, Henry Aaron, Willie Mays, Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Al Kaline, Tom Seaver, Vida Blue and other superstars now recently deceased in the last few years?

If they are not going to play an Old Timers’ Game why not invite Carl Yastrzemski, Luis Aparicio Sandy Koufax, Johnny Bench, Bill Mazeroski, Rod Carew, George Brett, Rollie Fingers, Ferguson Jenkins, Jim Kaat, Eddie Murray, Jim Palmer, Jim Rice, Chipper Jones, Nolan Ryan and Robin Yount?

Former Yankees who were legitimately stars will not be there. So why are Graig Nettles, Sparky Lyle, Goose Gossage, Randy Johnson, Dave Righetti, Chris Chambliss, Mike Mussina, Ron Guidry, Alfonso Soriano, Dave Winfield, Bobby Richardson, Tony Kubek, Wade Boggs and the second oldest living Yankee, 1952 A.L. MVP with the A’s, 98-year-old Bobby Shantz not at Old-Timers’ Day?

When was the last time Stan Bahnsen was back for an Old Timers’ Day? 1994?  By the way, Bahnsen had 73 complete games and 16 shutouts to his credit. Andy Pettitte who won 256 games (110 more than Bahnsen) had only 26 complete games and 4 shutouts.

No Bahnsen will not be there. The Yankees prefer to entertain fans by inviting brazen steroids cheater and multi-lawsuit filer Alex Rodriguez to appear at his first Old Timers’ Day.

Other than that, year after year a bunch of subpar, mediocre and forgettable players show up. “Hey dad, can’t the Yankees bring back Alvaro Espinoza?”

“Very soon son, very soon.”

Willie Mays Died This Year. Let’s Not Acknowledge That. Instead Let’s Get A Sponsor For All This

The Yankees used to follow up with a roll call of the players from all major league teams who had passed away from the previous year. Not anymore.

Now the Yankees necrology consists only of players who played for the Yankees and even more confusingly a bunch of people who are known only to their immediate families and friends who either worked for the Yankees or are tangentially related to the team.

Finally the Yankees Marketing (a.k.a. Whores) Department must sell every possible sponsorship opportunity. And they picked for Old Timers’ Day, the infamous double and triple-parkers of FreshDirect. The company owed over $38 million in parking fines, but settled with the city for about $22 million.

Realize this horrible company got ticketed for over $38 million but that’s not what they should have been fined.

If the police and traffic agents would actually do their jobs by enforcing the laws on the books and ticketed the arrogant and indifferent FreshDirect drivers when parked illegally, the total fines would amount to hundreds of millions of dollars. But the traffic agents and police purposely don’t ticket them.

It’s money the city claims they NEED and could use to supposedly improve mass transit. Instead they try to invoke a (now temporarily postponed) regressive tax. A misguided, B.S. congestion pricing scheme aimed at regular vehicles who make up less than one fifth of the traffic in Manhattan below 60th Street.

I digress. The point is, if any commercial entity were to offer the Yankees money to attach their name, for example, as the official laxative partner or brothel of the New York Yankees – they would take the cash.

Multiple “official” degenerate gambling sites as “partners” proves this to be true. MLB and the New York Yankees know no limits to their own avarice and greed to obtaining filthy lucre.

But I digress again.

My useless plea to the New York Yankees – please spare us future Old Timers’ Days, because us old timers remember what it once was, as compared to what it has become.

A borefest.